Once you get the bugs, defects, and leaks out of these, you end up with a really powerful unit except for the swing capability. There are various photos of my BH with sub-frame on this site. I ordered a 6 foot hoe and ended up with a seven foot!
If you choose to self import I recommend you buy factory direct and not from an offshore based trading company who has no presence in the USA. Don't be fooled by photos or text on their websites. When I imported mine several years ago I ordered two repair kits for every cylinder, two spares for every hose, one spare pump, extra bucket teeth, and at least a dozen of the lollipop shaped wire locks on the cylinder pins. After it arrived, fully accompanied by missing parts, defects, etc., I spent maybe another $500-800 on repair welding and fabrication to fix the non-fitting frame, cylinder repair by re-honing, etc. I even traded wrong parts to Tommy for the right ones. Thanks to Tommy @ Affordable!
I bought directly from Jinma although I believe the BHs were made by others. They were superb and apologetic about solving problems and replacing parts. We are an importer and I believe they treated us well because of that. I think we were not regarded as a one time only retail sale.
Import duty on farm equipment at that time, two years ago, was zero. The price of the BH alone, CIF Boston was just under $2K. Then came the broker costs, inland freight, etc. I think the total investment from start to finish, including weld repair totaled around $3500 not counting the hours I spent chasing leaks, claiming defects, lost time, time spent repairing and not using, etc.
Your options are:
1) Self Import and take your chances
2) Buy same item from USA based importer with reputation and willingness to give you names and phone numbers of recent satisfied customers of same BH
3) Buy Korean BH or equivalent from reputable USA source
